I am currently using Paul Buff's Einsteins and really enjoy them. However, I now need to use a very high shutter speed to freeze action outdoors and would like to use the hypersync feature in pocket wizards. I am not getting the results I need with the Einsteins because their flash duration is to fast/short. I am interested in either the alien bee 1600 or the white lighting 3200 because they both have a slower/longer flash duration. Would either of them do a better job over the other concerning the hypersync application I am looking at. Thanks for your input.

The WL 3200 would be the better choice simply because of its greater power. When using Hypersync, you're catching the tail of the flash pulse rather than the peak, and so you immediately lose a good chunk of the available power.

What camera are you using? I'm able to get 1/8000 with the Einstein at full power, though that's with a DX shutter.

Edit- should have added these questions as well-
Are you shooting a crop/full frame sensor?
When you say that you're not getting the results you need, do you mean frame coverage, or overall output intensity?
What reflector/modifier are you using?

You should go to PBC's forum and do a search on there. You will find that not a lot of people are getting the Hypersync thing to work with Einsteins or AB1600.....depending on the camera.

I specifically purchased the AB1600 for the same use you plan (with PW TT5) but have not tested enough to give a definitive conclusion. So far I've only been able to get to 320 like some others have already mentioned on Paul's forum. Paul himself has replied to a couple of post on the forum regarding this and pretty much says the shutter speeds will pretty much not go much higher. However, there are a couple of guys on there claiming to do it regularly but they don't exactly spellout how they do it (they offer training classes on the approach they use )

Man, sorry to hear that the AB 1600 is not hyper syncing very well. I will take a look at the PBC forum for some additional info.

I am using a 1DMKIV and have a clean frame until I get to 1/500 where the black bar starts creeping in. I would like to get to 1/2000 if at all possible with a clean frame. I have read plenty of photographer's blogs where users of the elinchrom ranger packs and a S head are getting at least that shutter speed. I was hoping that I can stay with the PCB products for continuity and price. I have thought about using both systems but in the end that does not make much sense for me.

RobertCB: did you fiddle w/ the TT settings at all? How well Hypersync is heavily dependent on flash, camera, trigger timings..that's why PW lets you configure the various delays. I don't think you'll get great performance like xtralight did w/o fiddling unless you're really lucky...they probably tuned it for middling performance that's "safe"...

If you compare the t.1 flash duration of an Einstein and a speedlight at full output - they're pretty similar. Colour mode and Action mode are the same at full output on the Einstein, but in colour mode the durations are slightly longer meaning that you could get slightly better performance at lower outputs in colour mode if you were needing to reduce output. The longer duration in colour mode might just provide some benefit.

Back to the speedlight.. at full power output (not using FP mode) these are slightly faster, or have a shorter duration.. and without any PW ControlTL units and just using the advanced FP/(HSS) shutter timing in the camera with Quantum radios I can get 1/8000s sync with these on a full frame D3x. I could do this five years ago with a DX camera and slave cells or Cactus triggers, so I'm surprised that it seems so difficult to get the Einstein to work with the added sync retiming.

I don't buy into the FF or DX sensor differences because at all shutter speeds the exposure durations need to be the same - and with performances at higher shutter speeds (1/8000s) the durations will be practically identical.

It might be best to ask Mr Kris about his settings, as he seems to be having it working..

Mr Kris wrote:
What camera are you using? I'm able to get 1/8000 with the Einstein at full power, though that's with a DX shutter.

Are you managing to maintain ratio with this throughout the shutter speed range or like using a speedlight and (peak) Hypersync are you getting some output benefit as well and if so, up to what shutter speed?

ukphotographer wrote:
Are you managing to maintain ratio with this throughout the shutter speed range or like using a speedlight and (peak) Hypersync are you getting some output benefit as well and if so, up to what shutter speed?

Any particular offset used or are you using Auto?

The default/auto settings give me a hot spot at the bottom of my frame, although it's not terribly hot, and the full frame is still exposed. I don't recall my exact settings that I'm using now.... I'll have to check later when I get a chance.